How long do ants live?

General information about ants

Despite the fact that representatives of the family Ants (Latin name - Formicidae) are different in appearance and habitats, they have much in common. Main features of ants:

social insects living in colonies (families),
usually form three castes - males, females and workers; in some species there are no workers,
Among the females, the uterus stands out - the female that lays eggs,
in an anthill there may be one queen (monogyny) or several (polygyny), in rare cases there may not be one at all,
in most cases, worker ants feed the queens, but they also control them - if the queen begins to produce few eggs, she can be killed,
the worker caste makes up the vast majority of the anthill and consists of females with underdeveloped reproductive organs,
worker ants with highly developed mandibles (mandibles) are often called soldiers, as they are effective in combat and defense of the anthill,
male ants emerge from unfertilized eggs, their entire function is to fertilize young females,
fertilization of the female occurs only once; the resulting seed material is enough for her to fertilize eggs throughout her life,
ants are insects with complete metamorphosis, that is, their life cycle consists of four phases - egg, larva, pupa and adult,
the size of an ant ranges from 1 mm to 5 cm in different species,
have antennae, which are sensory organs,
They feed on plants and animals (mainly other insects) as well as their secretions.

Unique natural cloning exists in the lesser fire ant, males and females of which reproduce independently by cloning, so that the genes of both sexes do not mix.

How many types of ants are there?

It is not possible to accurately calculate the number of species, since the animal composition of the planet is constantly changing: some species die out and new ones appear. And some of the existing ones may not yet have been discovered by scientists.

More than 14 thousand species are now known, including extinct ones. They are included in the 485 genera that make up the Ant family.

What do ants eat in the wild?

Different members of the colony eat different foods. Worker ants drag a wide variety of food into the nest (anthill), and once inside it is divided among the members of the colony. For example, larvae, as future offspring, rely on protein food - the remains of animals and other insects (carrion), and eggs of pests. With the help of this food they grow and develop faster. Adult ants eat easily digestible foods - seeds, fruit pulp, rhizomes, nuts, wood juices. The uterus also relies on protein foods. Moreover, many types of ants specially chew food for the queen so that it is easier to digest.

As you can see, it is impossible to call any one product predominant in the diet of ants. After all, each species of these insects stands at its own level of the ecological chain, and therefore obtains food specific to its needs.

Among the ants there are real predators. For example, cerapachis ants (wandering) eat only insects in the form of larvae, queens, and adult workers.

But still, the main food of ants is honeydew and honeydew. Honeydew is a sweet liquid secreted by aphids, mealybugs and other insects that feed on plant sap. It appears on the leaves of trees and shrubs, sometimes falling in tiny drops (hence the name) to the ground. Honeydew is a sticky, sweet liquid found on the leaves of willow, hazel, maple, oak, ash and fruit trees. It is released by leaves under the influence of sharp temperature fluctuations.

Honeydew is the basis of the diet of forest red ants (60% of the diet).

The food of carpenter ants is tree resin (gum). They extract it from cracks in the bark of trees. But gum is not the only food of woodworms, because it is not constantly excreted. When there is no gum, they feed on aphid secretions.

Harvester ants eat dry grass seeds. In its pure form, it is hard, rough and unsuitable food. But smart insects have learned to cope with this: individual soldiers are engaged in grinding these seeds with their jaws until a soft paste is formed.

We have already said that the larvae feed on protein foods. But the larvae of some species are not able to feed themselves. They are fed by adults, giving them semi-digested food. Those larvae that are able to feed themselves eat other larvae, insect carrion and eggs.

Types of ants in Russia

On the territory of Russia there are 260 species of ants from 44 genera. Let's look at the most common ones.

Pharaoh ants

The only originally tropical species of ant found in Russia is the pharaonic ant. It spread throughout the world in the 19th century, traveling on ships from India, and is now found throughout the world.

Pharaoh ants are unpretentious, and differ from other members of the family in their smallest size: 1.5–3 mm (the queen is up to 4 mm). The insects have a red or yellow-brown color and a dark abdomen, and the queens are also dark brown with tan markings. Males are always winged. On average, a family consists of several thousand individuals, including 100–200 females. Sometimes colonies of up to 300 thousand ants are found.

The peculiarity of this pharaoh ant is that it mates in a nest, which makes it different from many other species.

They are heat-loving, so in our latitudes they usually live in human housing, choosing dark crevices, the walls of houses, places behind wallpaper, in fabric or household appliances. In everyday life, these ants are called house ants or house ants. Pharaoh ants do not have the usual type of anthill; they live in diffuse nests. Because of this, insects are difficult to remove, because it is necessary to treat all parts of the house where there are nests with insecticides.

Pharaoh ants eat food, food waste, and when there is a shortage of food, also wool and skin. They are dangerous for people because they can carry various dangerous diseases, for example, polio. Because ants crawl through garbage and waste, the dirt on their feet then ends up in the food they eat. The bites themselves are not dangerous and are also painless, but they can cause irritation and infection in the wound.

Diffuse nests are a type of anthill that is distributed over a large area in the form of several nests connected to each other. Ants can migrate from one nest to another, and one or more queens can live in each of them.

Meadow ants

Unlike pharaoh ants, meadow ants are resistant to cold. They live in the forests of temperate latitudes of Eurasia, that is, in most of Europe and Russia. They settle in meadows, clearings and forest edges. The size of meadow ants is 5–13 mm. They are red in color, the body is covered with coarse hairs (females do not have them), and there is a black spot on the chest. The anthill of meadow ants is usually quite loose, the base is approximately 3 meters in diameter. The dome has the appearance of a flattened cone and consists of large plant remains covered with sand. The number of insects in one anthill ranges from several tens to several hundred thousand, usually 50–70 thousand ants. The composition of the population is normal: females, males and workers.

Meadow ants are able to change the angle of inclination of the top of the anthill, as a result of which it is illuminated and warmed up differently. This is how they regulate the temperature in their home.

Meadow ants are not dangerous to humans; their bite can cause an individual allergic reaction, but usually does not cause any harm. They feed on honeydew (sweet secretions of aphids) and the remains of dead insects, and feed their larvae on various live insects.

Meadow forest ants are included in the “Red List of Threatened Animals” (English IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals) of the international Red Book of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in the status of Lower Risk/near threatened (taxa close to transition to threatened group). Included in the Appendix to the Red Book of Moscow as a species requiring constant control and observation in the capital and in the Red Book of the Chelyabinsk Region.
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meadow_ant

Reaper Ants

In total, the genus of harvester ants has about 110 species, but only 30 live in Europe, and only 5 in Russia. Basically, they prefer a hot, arid climate. The size of an adult insect ranges from 4 to 16 mm (usually no more than 9 mm) and depends on the type and specialization of the ant, as in other genera.

Harvester ants are also sometimes called messors, from the Latin genus name Messor.

Reapers build nests in the soil; their anthill can reach several meters deep into the ground. On the surface, usually only an inconspicuous mound is visible. The population of one colony is usually approximately 5 thousand individuals with one queen and a number of unfertilized females.

Harvester ants feed on grain and dry plant fruits. It is noteworthy that they mainly collect seeds that have fallen to the ground without harming the crops, so they are not pests. Reapers store food in special chambers, taking them out to dry if necessary. To convert them into food, workers grind grains, thus preparing a nutritious mass.

Some people keep harvester ants at home, in formicariums - specially equipped structures or artificial anthills.

Red forest ants

Like meadow ants, red forest ants live in the temperate latitudes of northern Eurasia. Their large anthills are found throughout much of Europe and the European part of Russia. The size of red forest ants is from 7 to 14 mm, the color is red-brown. There is a gland on the abdomen that secretes acidic ant poison.

Many species of insects called myrmecophiles live in the nests of red wood ants. Among them are various beetles, darkling beetles, and small ants.

The anthills of this species of ants are sometimes taller than human height, but generally reach 0.5 - 1 m. The material for building the nest is rotten stumps, fallen pine needles, small branches and other plant debris. The population of such a dwelling is very numerous, from 500 thousand to 1 million individuals, the queen is usually one, in some cases 3-4.

For people, red ants are not harmful, but, on the contrary, beneficial. In particular, they are used to produce drugs containing formic acid. In nature, they are an important link in the ecological chain, carrying seeds and facilitating the spread of plants to new territories. They also prevent the excessive proliferation of forest insect pests: since forest ants are omnivores, in addition to plant debris and honeydew, they eat a lot of different insects. Thus, an average family of ants can protect 1 hectare of forest from pests.

Red wood ants are included in the “Red List of Threatened Species” of the international Red Book of the World Conservation Union in the status of Lower Risk/near threatened (taxa close to becoming threatened). Also included in some regional Red Books and lists of rare animals, for example, in the Red Book of Moscow, the Red Book of the Voronezh Region, the Red Books of the Kostroma, Lipetsk, Novgorod and Chelyabinsk Regions, as well as the Red Book of the Dnepropetrovsk Region.
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_forest_ant

Black garden ants

The most common in Russia are black garden ants. They live in the territory from Western Europe to Asia, as well as in North America. The size of worker ants and soldier ants is 3–5 mm, while the queens reach a centimeter in length. The color of the body is from dark brown to black, it is covered with short hairs.

Another name for the black garden ant is black lasius, from the Latin name of the genus Lasius.

Their anthills are usually located underground, and the above-ground part is a small mound. Black garden ants can also live in rotten wood or under stones. The family reaches 50–70 thousand individuals and is ruled by one queen.

In this species of ants, the queens live the longest - up to 30 years.

Black ants are considered garden pests because they sometimes breed aphids and scale insects on plants. It should be noted that they feed not only on the sweet secretions of insects, but also on their corpses, and in some cases, on live insects. Garden ants will not refuse nectar from flowers or fruits, which is why they sometimes harm plants or fruit crops. But for the person themselves they are harmless, the bites are painful, but they can only cause harm if there is an individual allergy to ant venom.

Pale-footed ants

A species of garden ant, also included in the genus Lasius, is the pale-legged ant. These insects live in Europe and the Caucasus. The size of working individuals is 2–4 mm, the queens reach 9 mm. The body color of the pale ant is light to dark brown. A distinctive feature of this species is its large eyes.

These ants prefer to live in dry, open areas, usually on lawns. They can also build homes under stones or paving slabs. A nest on the surface of the earth can be identified by a small crater.

Pale-legged ants are also called pale garden ants or light brown lasias.

Pale garden ants are not dangerous to humans, but they can harm the garden. The majority of their diet consists of insects, including other pests. But in the summer, as a result of digging up the lawn by ants, the grass and flowers can dry out. However, such consequences only occur when there are a very large number of pale-legged ants in the area. Just like black garden ants, pale-legged ants breed mealybugs and aphids, which harm the garden.

Carpenter ants

The largest genus of the Ant family is the carpenter borer (otherwise known as Camponotus). It includes approximately 1000 species and is distributed throughout the planet. Wood borers even live in deserts, although most of them, as the name suggests, live where there are trees, making their homes in stumps or living trees, gnawing tunnels in the wood. There are 17 known species of carpenter ants in Russia. Their colors and sizes vary and depend on the specific type of ant.

Carpenter ants are the most common genus of ants in the world.

Woodworms are not dangerous to people, but they can seriously damage log houses if they take up residence in them. Log houses, wooden beams and furniture, and building materials that ants can turn into dust are at risk. Also, these insects in some cases cause damage to gardens and forests, gnawing young buds and wood.

The largest ant found in Russia belongs to the genus of carpenters. This is the queen of the red-breasted carpenter ant, which can reach 2 cm.

Amazon Ants

Amazon ants live in the north of the Eurasian continent, as well as in North America. There are 3 species of Amazons in our country, their distribution area is the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Siberia, the Far East and the southern part of Russia. These are quite large ants, about 1 cm in length. The body color of different varieties varies from black and dark brown to red.

This genus is also called slave ants.

They are notable for the fact that they keep slaves: Amazons do not have their own workers and they compensate for their lack of strength by kidnapping the offspring of other species. Most often, meadow or forest ants become victims. They belong to the same subfamily, Formicines, that is, they are relatives. The way a fertilized female organizes a new colony is also interesting: she seizes someone else’s anthill, in which she kills the queen and takes her place.

For people, Amazons are no more dangerous than other ants living in the forest. Their diet is approximately similar to that of meadow and forest ants.

Parasitic ants

Amazons can be classified as a large group of parasitic ants, which includes other species. They are different in appearance, but their common feature is social parasitism, that is, one type of ant lives at the expense of another. It happens like this: a fertilized parasitic female penetrates into someone else's anthill, where she begins to lay eggs. It can kill the local queen, or it can exist together with it, it depends on the type of ant. Over time, the workers from the eggs of the parasitic female replace the host ants and occupy the entire nest. Although there are species of parasites that do not have workers in their offspring, and they live in a busy anthill as long as the local workers are alive.

Even the hardworking red wood ant can in some cases become a parasite, establishing colonies in the anthills of the brown wood ant.

In total, more than 200 species of parasitic ants are known. Most belong to the formycin and myrmicin families.

Dimensions and features of anthills

From a scientific point of view, an anthill is a nest in which a colony of ants lives. This refers not only to the part visible from the outside, but also to the underground part. Insects can also build several nests, with many paths running between them. They are also taken for one anthill.

Weaver ants nest

The lifespan of an anthill is also unlimited. As a rule, insects can use a nest from several to hundreds of years. The complexity of the design is determined by the lifestyle of the colony. Most ants create elaborate homes that they will inhabit for many years. Nomadic species do not need complex nests - after a couple of months of sedentary life, they migrate to a new place.

Interesting fact: the nomadic African species Dorylus wilverthi is known for the largest colonies - about 22 million individuals. Ants move for several days at a speed of 20 m per hour. The stay in the underground nest lasts no longer than 3 months, during which the foragers replenish food supplies daily.

Carpenter ants live in tree cavities

Nests are built underground and outside, in trees, logs, etc. The materials used are soil, various plants, leaves, and pine needles. Weaver ants strengthen their homes with webs. When darkness falls, the exits from the nests are covered with resin to prevent heat loss. Nests can go several meters underground.

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Exotic species

Unlike Russian ones, exotic species are often dangerous to people and have unusual behavior. Let's look at some of the brightest representatives of foreign ants.

Bulldog Ants

This genus of ants got its name because of its characteristic, menacing-looking jaws. In total it includes about 90 species. Bulldog ants live in Australia. Also one species is found in New Caledonia and New Zealand.

Myrmecia pavida Clark, one of the varieties of the bulldog ant, can instantly jump 39 cm or jump up to 7.6 cm.

Bulldogs have large, protruding eyes. Most species have an impressive size - up to 3 cm. The color of ants is varied, usually they are black, brown, or bright red or orange. They are capable of jumping, which is rare in the ant family; besides bulldogs, three other genera are capable of this. Bulldogs live in earthen nests; only one arboreal species is known. There is usually only one queen and she lives for two years.

Bulldog ants contain gamergates—working individuals that are capable of reproducing in the event of the death of the queen.

These ants are predators and feed on insects, including wasps and bees. They can also consume sweet plant juices. Some species have an interesting feature - they produce eggs intended exclusively for feeding. Insects are quite dangerous for humans: the bite of some species can cause severe pain, which only goes away after a few days. There have been cases of death due to severe allergic reactions to bulldog ant venom.

Leafcutter ants

Leaf cutters are a large group of ants, including 15 genera. All species vary in color and size, but rarely reach more than 2 cm in length. Leaf cutters live on the American continents, in North America - in the southern United States. Capable of a kind of agriculture, growing mushrooms in anthills.

Leaf cutters got their name because they cut leaves and flowers, which they then take to the anthill. However, they do not eat them, but only chew them, thus creating nutritious soil for growing mushrooms. During their existence, mushrooms and ants formed a symbiosis, and young queens, organizing a new nest, immediately bring spores and hyphae of the fungus into it. Anthills can extend over tens of cubic meters along the ground, and their above-ground part consists of mounds reaching a meter in height. The size of the colony is up to 8 million ants, headed by one queen.

Leafcutter ants are one of the strongest creatures on Earth, as they can lift loads that weigh 50 times their weight.

These ants are safe for humans, since they themselves do not attack humans. And the poison of this insect is not as strong as, for example, that of a bulldog. But if a person is prone to allergies, individual reactions and redness may be observed after the bite. Why leaf cutters are dangerous is for the garden - if attacked by ants overnight, only bare trunks may remain.

Ant bullet

The most dangerous representative of the ant family is the bullet ant. Its venom is recognized as the most toxic of all known insect venoms.

The ant received the name “bullet” for its impressive sting (up to 3.5 mm) and the acute pain from the bite, comparable to the sensations from a bullet wound. Another name is ant-24 hours, since the pain lasts about a day.

These insects are found in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. The size of the bullet ant is 1.8–2.5 cm, the color is brown-black. There are 1–3 thousand individuals living in a colony; there may be one or several queens. Anthills are usually located in the soil, at the roots of trees, and in some cases on the trees themselves. Bullet ants feed on live and dead insects, and sometimes even small vertebrates, which they cut into pieces with sharp jaws and carry to the anthill. However, they are not aggressive towards large creatures, and will only attack humans if they feel threatened.

In a dangerous situation, the ant begins to make hissing sounds and secrete repellent musky substances. If this does not help, it attacks the threatening object with its stinger. Since bullet venom is a neurotoxin, it causes local paralysis and extremely severe pain, which is 30 times worse than the pain of a wasp sting and lasts about 24 hours. Severe allergic reactions often occur, including anaphylactic shock, so deaths as a result of a bite are not uncommon if medical attention is not provided in time. Based on the above, the bullet can be considered the most dangerous ant for humans.

Many Indian tribes use bullet ants to initiate young men into adult men. While undergoing initiation, a young man must hold mittens with ants woven into them for 10 minutes.

Red fire ants

Another deadly ant is the red fire ant. Its venom, like that of the bullet ant, is very toxic. The homeland of the species is Brazil, although with the advent of transport they spread to other countries with warm climates. Now they can be found in Australia, New Zealand, USA, and China.

This type of ant is very aggressive and is capable of destroying most living creatures in the territory they inhabit. They are omnivores, so they sweep away both animals and plants in their path.

Red fire ants are small, measuring 2–6 mm. The body is reddish-brown. Their anthills are earthen, up to half a meter high. A colony can have one or several queens.

These ants got their name “fire” because of the burning sensation at the site of their bites. It is better not to approach their anthill at all, because when the colony is threatened, the insects attack all at once, even large creatures - animals and people. But their poison is very dangerous, and if a person is prone to allergies, then an attack by even one ant can be fatal.

More than 30 people die from fire ant bites in America every year.

Red fire ants also harm agriculture by destroying crops and attacking domestic animals. Once these insects are infested in homes, they are very difficult to remove, which is why residents usually choose to move out for their own safety.

Army ant soldiers

Worker ants of different species are usually called soldiers, but there is also a separate species with this name. Army ant soldiers are nomads that are found in the Amazon, Asia and Africa. Adults are approximately 1.5 cm in size and have a dark red body color. The queen during the ovipositor period reaches 5 cm, which is why army ants can be considered the largest in the world.

Another name for the species is Siafu nomadic ants.

They were nicknamed army because of their behavior, because the entire colony, which can reach a million individuals, coordinates its actions like a battalion of soldiers. They do not have permanent nests, and they are on the move all their lives, stopping only for the period of reproduction. When the queen lays eggs and the larvae emerge, the ants continue on their way.

Ants build a temporary home with their bodies, interlocking with each other with their jaws and forming a spherical structure.

They destroy any living creature they encounter. A distinctive feature is that the soldiers are blind, so they attack everyone indiscriminately, and can tear apart an animal the size of a horse. This makes them extremely dangerous, including for people. But the bites of individual soldiers themselves do not pose a threat to life, although they can cause allergies; no deaths from them have been recorded.

Honey ants

A large group of ants, including 5 different genera, are called honey ants. The name is associated with an interesting feature: some working individuals store large reserves of honeydew and plant juice in their abdomens. This is how the ants adapted to the arid climate of the deserts and semi-deserts where they live. There are few plants and aphids, the secretions of which the ants feed on, so the inflated “honey barrels” feed other individuals as needed. Insects often swollen from honeydew are unable to move, so they hang in the upper part of the anthill chamber.

Mexicans call the “ant barrels” of Myrmecocystus “earth grapes” and extract honey from them. Almost 400 grams of honey are “squeezed” out of 1000 barrel ants.

One colony of honey ants can contain from hundreds to several million individuals, led by a queen. There can be a thousand or more thrifty “honey barrels”; a colony with 1,500 such worker ants has been recorded.

Yellow crazy ants

The species Anoplolepis gracilipes has an unusual name - these ants were called crazy for their chaotic behavior. They are yellow-brown in color, have long legs and a body measuring about 4mm.

Yellow crazy ants can spread around the world using human transport. It is believed that they appeared in Africa, but later settled on the islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Their social structure is interesting: several colonies unite into a supercolony, similar to a federation. Each of its components has its own workers and its own queen, but they do not compete, but cooperate with each other, which helps the species to more successfully capture new territories.

Yellow ants feed on insects, plants, including grain. They can also eat small invertebrate animals, like many predatory species. For people who are not prone to allergies, crazy ants are not very dangerous, although their bites are quite unpleasant and cause itching and swelling due to the venom. But these insects pose a serious threat to ecology and agriculture.

On Christmas Island, yellow crazy ants have killed 15-20 million red crabs - 30% of the entire population - since 1989.

How many ants are there in an anthill?

Ants are highly organized insects that lead a social lifestyle. They do everything together, and roles and functions are carefully distributed between individuals.

But how many insects can fit in one anthill?

Nests can have all sorts of sizes - it all depends on the type of ants, as well as the area in which they live. For example, members of small genera such as Leptothorax and Temnothorax build acorn-sized homes. Large forest ants of the genus Formica require huge nests up to 2 m. The lifespan of an anthill is also unlimited. As a rule, insects can use a nest from several to hundreds of years. The complexity of the design is determined by the lifestyle of the colony. Most ants create elaborate homes that they will inhabit for many years. Nomadic species do not need complex nests - after a couple of months of sedentary life, they migrate to a new place.

Ants are found throughout the world except Antarctica. The largest anthills are located in a humid environment. The abundance of vegetation and soft soil allow insects to build complex multi-level structures. Numerous colonies are known in the Amazon River delta. The average number of individuals in such a nest is about 5 million. If we take into account nests connected by tunnels, the number of inhabitants can reach hundreds of millions.

It is much more difficult for ants to build homes in mountainous areas, among rocks and stones. In such territories, nests are usually small, and no more than 100-200 individuals live in them. Occasionally you can find an anthill containing only a couple of dozen insects.

Abandoned nest of Brazilian leaf-cutter ants Source: https://kipmu.ru/skolko-muravev-v-muravejnike/

Some species of ants form supercolonies. At the same time, they build and combine a large number of nests. The largest colony of Argentine ants is considered to be, discovered in 2000 on the coast of southern Europe. It stretches over 6,000 km and includes two supercolonies. The number of individuals is measured in billions.

The second place is occupied by the supercolony in the USA (900 km), the third - in Melbourne (100 km). For a long time, scientists considered the largest colony to be the largest, occupying an area of 2.7 km². It was found in Japan, and the ants formed 45 thousand nests in this territory. The approximate number of individuals is 306 million.

Who are winged ants?

There is an opinion that there is a separate species of winged ants. This is not true, females and males of most species have wings, but they are used only during reproduction, when the mating flight occurs - young females and males fly out of the nest to mate and found a new colony. Males then die, and females, in most cases, lose their wings.

Ants are amazing creatures. Among them there are both dangerous and useful. Fortunately, in Russia and neighboring countries there are no deadly species and only our gardens can suffer from ants. Nevertheless, try not to destroy the little workers, because in nature everything is in its place, and they are needed for its balance.